
Summary – Compromise to the greater good is truly human’s best quality
There is a saying in Malay – “Ditelan mati mak, Diluahkan mati bapak”. Roughly translated – “Swallow, and your mother will die, Spit it out and your father will die, choose.” Yes, I know.. brutal.
It’s very easy to make a decision when the only one who will be affected is you. But, the task is hundreds time harder when a few people will be affected by your decision. You can make the decision, but a lot of people might get hurt.
I am actually now is exactly in this tight spot. Where everything I do will hurt either party.
Two of my colleague (very close friend to me) are supposed to do one job. I’m not going to bore you with the details of the job but suffice to say that both of them will have to work together in this one.
The problem is, colleague A (which is more senior than B) has his own way of doing thing. When he say “do this way”, he wants no objection from other people. Colleague B however has another idea to do the project.
I’ve reviewed both methods and I find them both equally efficient. Both methods will get the work done. If you have to decide on which equally efficient methods to use, what would you do?
Seniority wise, colleague A’s plan should be used. But colleague B’s plan is also just as flawless that I don’t know what reason to give if I choose colleague A’s plan. He will be very demotivated when his plan not used, and even more when he is confident that he is just as right.
The solution – This is what I do
1) Be very sure which is better
In the end, the only thing that matters is whether or not the job can be perfectly done. The best method that will do this should automatically be chosen irregardless of where it is from.
2) Approach the more understanding
If for some weird case that both methods are equally succesful, I will have to approach the more understanding person. In this specific case – colleague B. I have to describe to him the whole problem. And convince him to put the objective of the project first before everything else.
He has every reason to feel unappreciated, but the truth is we are all here to finish the job. And that’s what we are supposed to do. Everyone should be proffesional and put emotion aside to finish the job.
3) Avoid putting these two together in future job
One is too proud of himself that he no longer compromise with others, and another is equally good but is being demotivated day in day out. Both will do better if put in separate group in the future.
– I wonder –
Have you ever had any difficult choices to decide? How do you choose?
Photo Credit – Dano
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hmm,kite pun tengah de problem dgn clinic partner..but setakat ni,cuba je tolerate dgn sikap dia tu..xtahulaa lama mana dapat bertahan
hmm..
kadang2 selalu jugak face problem cani..
tambah2 dalam keje2 jpp+persatuan yg lain..
my solution?
i always come out dgn my own cara..so that, i dont need to chose either two. hehe..kejam,kan? but sy adalah seorang yg sangat lemah untuk menolak mana2 pilihan. jadi, bila sy keluarkan keputusan sendiri, they would not object. [tambah2 if i’m the leader]. the thing is that, sometimes it’s better to work alone but most of the time, two heads are better than one..
depends lah pada apakah projek atau keje tersebut..hehe..
banji,
i am always face with that option.
a condition where one of my option will cause
unhappy feeling to the other option owner.
i always think of a win win situation.
or atleast how to explain so that it’ll be a win win situation.
like,
‘ahmad, what u suggested is good,
but i have no other way than to use hashim’s,
now dont get me wrong.
the management know his idea first and
somehow yours is considered as high investment option,
now we’ll look first,
both of us know dat hashim’s idea will cause
the company to loose money sooner or later,
then your idea will be the solution.
relax. just wait and see yah’
atleast ahmad is happy,
u are not to blame,
hashim of course happy,
the management is happy,
hopefully:D
Faez – Care to share the problem? 🙂
Fairuzniza – That’s a very good way actually. Coming up with your own method. A true leader actually need to learn this skills, harnessing the talents and skills of his/her subordinate and make up his own decision 🙂
And as you have clearly said, the only problem with this approach is that sometime you will feel like it’s better for you to do the work alone. It does seem like you are
Task delegation is usually the hardest thing to a leader
DaPocket – It’s like reading my own story 🙂 Yes, in the end we need to get that win win win situation. All in the name of the greater good.
Very tiring though